Randy Quaid, wife remain in a Canadian jail

October 26, 2010 12:00:00 AM PDT

TORONTO --

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, remain in a Canadian jail despite being granted a release from custody last week after they were arrested on outstanding warrants in California.The couple was arrested in Vancouver last Thursday on warrants related to felony vandalism charges filed in Santa Barbara.

At a hearing the next day, the pair posted bail and were granted a temporary release from jail. But according to Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Shakila Manzoor, the Quaids remain in detention.

The Quaids' lawyer, Brian Tsuji, declined to comment on why they remain in custody.

During their hearing last week, the couple told Canada's immigration board they are being persecuted in the United States.

Randy Quaid said he and his wife plan to apply for refugee status in Canada because the couple are seeking asylum from "the murderers of Hollywood."

Evi Quaid begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator not to force them to return, saying their friends, such as actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, have been "murdered" under mysterious circumstances and she worried something would happen to her husband next.

Ledger died in January 2008 from an accidental overdose. Carradine was found dead, hanging from a rope, in a suite at a luxury Bangkok hotel. Neither actor's death was ruled suspicious.